Blog Post

World’s first full-scale hyperloop system: world record near Las Vegas, Nevada

Mar 03, 2023

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States--Hyperloop One, previously known as Virgin Hyperloop, has already completed over 400 tests with their hyperloop system on a test site outside Las Vegas, a 500-meter-long “DevLoop” test track , which sets the world record for being the World’s first full-scale hyperloop system, according to the WORLD RECORD ACADEMY.

Hyperloop uses electric propulsion and electromagnetic levitation in near-vacuum conditions to transport pods from A to B.

Photos: Hyperloop One, Federal Railroad Administration

"The Reno-to-Las Vegas proposal made the semifinalist list after the entries were whittled down worldwide to 35 in January. Of those, 11 proposed routes are from the United States, including Los Angeles to San Diego, Seattle to Portland, Chicago to Pittsburgh and Kansas City to St. Louis," the Reno Gazette Journal reports.

"Based on an idea first floated by Tesla and Space X head honcho Elon Musk, Hyperloop One’s technology uses a low-pressure tube and electric propulsion to move a vehicle pod at high speed, about 700 miles per hour. Think of it as the transportation version of a pneumatic tube messaging system, except done on a larger scale and with a big dollop of geeky cool. Musk likened the concept to “a cross between a Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table.”

"Musk is not personally involved with Hyperloop One. His 2013 white paper on the concept, however, served as the baseline for the technology the company is developing."

"Virgin Hyperloop, a futuristic train service that promised a new era of travel for passengers, will be focusing on cargo instead, it has revealed. The company told BBC News the change in direction was due to global supply-chain issues and Covid," the BBC reports.

"The company said: "The global supply chain has experienced dramatic changes in the past year, due in part to the worldwide pandemic.

"Virgin Hyperloop as a company is responding to strong customer demand for a cargo-based hyperloop system and is focusing its resources on delivering this product."Its long-term vision remained to "address passenger mobility", the company added.

"On November 8, 2020, after more than 400 un-crewed tests, the firm conducted the first human trial at a speed of 172 km/h (107 mph) at its test site in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, in February 2022, the company abandoned plans for human rated travel and instead focused on freight, firing more than a hundred employees amounting to half its total workforce. Later in November of that year the company agreed to give up the Virgin branding, reverting to the Hyperloop One name.

"Hyperloop systems are intended to move passengers and/or cargo at airline speeds at a fraction of the cost of air travel. They are designed to run suspended by magnetic systems in a vacuum tube. The original Hyperloop concept proposed to use a linear electric motor to accelerate and decelerate an air-bearing levitated pod through a low-pressure tube. The vehicle would glide silently at speeds up to 760 mph (1223.1 km/h) with very low turbulence. The system is proposed to be entirely autonomous, quiet, direct-to-destination and on-demand." (Wikipedia)